Tech Safety: SIDS, EMF, Snuza & Your Baby

Tech Safety: SIDS, EMF, Snuza & Your Baby

One of the things about becoming a parent is that you’re suddenly in the position of considering another, very vulnerable little person, in every little way. From which nappies you use and their sleeping situation, to what medication you will and won’t allow, and whether or not your baby sleeps in your room. There are so many decisions for parents to make, especially right at the beginning.

Modern life

Add to that a wide range of modern concerns that our parents never had to worry about: radio frequencies, electromagnetic frequencies, microwave frequencies, cell towers; the list could go on. Where do you draw the line? What do you choose to risk? 

At Snuza, we’ve always taken the stance that we value your baby’s health and safety first. It is widely known that there are so many things that can go wrong in a baby’s first year of life, and they are often almost unexplainable. We’ve unpacked a few of the most common worries below.

SIDS 

One of the most common causes of infant death is SIDS — literally Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, a death that has no known cause. One way we can reduce infant death is to be alerted when babies stop breathing. In that way, caregivers are given the time to resuscitate the infant before their untimely death. And it is that time that our devices give to parents. 

But what about the effects of EMF on babies?

There have recently been a spate of articles in the popular press expressing concerns over EMF (electromagnetic field) exposure from wearable baby monitors. One article contrasts a few different wearable baby monitors on the market and notes that the Fitbit — a commonly worn wearable fitness tracker — emits a volts/meter reading of 3 v/m. Both the Snuza models rated in that article — the Snuza Go!^SE and the Snuza Hero^SE — emitted just 0.7 v/m. The Snuza Pico 2 uses ultra-low power technology to transmit data to your smartphone/tablet. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) offers the lowest energy and safest technology available for wearable devices. This enables the Pico 2 to transmit data over a short distance. The Snuza Pico 2, when connecting to the App, uses Bluetooth Low Energy which transmits a tiny fraction of the energy output from a typical mobile telephone (cellphone). To be precise, a typical phone (500mW at 12.5% duty cycle) transmits over 23,000 (twenty three thousand) times more energy than Pico. To put this in perspective, your child will receive the same amount of energy from Pico 2 as someone on their cellphone 75 feet (23m) away. All our devices were designed with your baby's safety in mind.

Baby monitors and radiation

There are risks when people — and especially more vulnerable babies — are exposed to EMF frequencies. That being said, there are many devices in our modern world that emit EMF frequencies. 

Baby monitors, both the wireless breathing monitor mats and wireless audiovisual cameras, emit EMF radiation. Your smartphone, your Fitbit or smartwatch, the WiFi doorbell, your smart TV converter; there are so many wireless devices in our homes that connect to each other and our internet through Bluetooth and therefore emit EMF frequencies.

Articles that cite the dangers of EMF exposure do mention that it is the proximity to your babies bare skin and thinner skull that could lead to problems. In that case, our wearable baby monitor touches your baby’s skin in only one small place. And even that can be mitigated by dressing your baby in a thin onesie or shirt and clipping your Snuza to a pair of leggings/elasticated pants.

Summary

In short, we believe that our range of wearable baby monitors offer far more than they take away. They offer parents time to respond in the event that their baby does stop breathing. They offer a range of other information, especially in some models like the new Snuza Pico 2. 

Sources:

1. The Sensitivity of Children to Electromagnetic Fields: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9wv131h2

2. The Best Movement Monitor Review of 2020: https://www.babygearlab.com/topics/health-safety/best-movement-monitor

1. EMF Section of above article: https://www.babygearlab.com/topics/health-safety/best-movement-monitor?fbclid=IwAR3TGwJ38QaR6sfY2XPCP7gQV-8VCMyjhbZxW0gke3vZQV82gF2rIGwyMgs#electromagnetic-fields-emf

3. Opinion: Making My Baby a Smart Baby Was a Mistake: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/05/why-using-smart-wearable-baby-monitors-was-a-mistake.html